US: Azania performs at Aputumpu Music Festival
By Dennis Kabatto – Sierra Leonean American born Soul singer Azania continues to pave the way for female African artists in the United States of America.
Azania fielding questions at a recent WBAI, 99.5 FM interview and live performance in New York
Azania will perform Friday, March 29, 2013 at Aputumpu Music Festival all ages, world music stage at Joe’s Pub – a popular and intimate venue in New York City where world music, rhythm-and-blues, jazz, rock, pop, rock and other musical genres collide – on the same billing with Denita Odigie, Gone Quite Mad, Soulfege and Ghanaian born Osekre and his Lucky Bastards band.
“I’m super excited for Friday night! Joe’s Pub is a prestigious venue, with performers ranging from Alicia Keys to Lady Gaga to Youssou N’Dour. It’s an honor to perform there. I’ll be accompanied by my full band and we’ll be performing my original songs – a blend of soul/jazz/funk, interlaced with some beautiful ballads and one traditional West African song,” she said in a statement late Thursday during rehearsals in Manhattan.
Her Quintet band of stellar musicians includes Shawn Whitley on bass, Lucianna Padmore (drums), Justin Mathews (guitar), Paul Wilson (keyboards) and Royale Mosley on vocals.
In a recent post on Leh We Talk (LWT) – a popular Sierra Leonean Face book social network media, she invited LWT members to “come discover Azania’s wonderful songs,” and she promised her fans that her performance Friday “is going to be a fabulous show.” She also posted a sneak peek of her hit song “All of my life” which she said will be her opening song at the festival.
The Aputumpu Festival is a musical showcase featuring more than two-dozen rising artists and bands over the course of four days, spread across some of the best venues in Williamsburg and Manhattan in New York.
Organizers describe the festival as a celebration of the best new talent in the city, “an amalgam of creative and artistic forces which seem to be as much a part of the air as the weather. In a city overflowing with musical talent, these artists and bands rise above with distinctive sounds and unforgettable performances.”
Azania has performed in major music festivals including the world-renowned Montreux Jazz festival and was honored to perform for the president Ernest B. Koroma of Sierra Leone, president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Tony Blair – former prime minister of the United Kingdom.
She is scheduled to perform two free upcoming Jazz-Soul-Pop concerts at the G-Bar in the borough of Bronx, NY on Wednesday, April 17 and the Skylight Gallery in Brooklyn, New York respectively.
She will also perform and participate on a Panel discussion: “Jazz Healing Force of The Universe –Women’s Viewpoint at the 14th Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival presented by the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium on Saturday, April 20 from 1pm – 4pm.
“I am very excited working on a new album which should be released by the end of this year,” Azania said.
Concert tickets information can be obtained at www.azania.com
